Never Say Never
by goldfinger11
Summary: Ron and Hermione battle it out to try and get the other to reveal their true feelings...but who will win?


Hi there everyone! This is the first chapter of my story, Never Say Never, and I hope you all like it! Thanks for taking the time out to read my story…please make sure to review at the end and tell me what you think so far! The continuation of this story rests in the hands of you guys, so if you want more, you'll have to let me know! And if not, then…you guys are meanies! Just kidding…have fun!

Daisy

Disclaimer: Me no own Harry Potter. (I wish…)

Chapter one:

No More Ingénue 

The sun was shining brightly on the Burrow's lawn in St Ottery, Catchpole on a bright, beautiful August afternoon. Around the corner, in the backyard, Mrs. Weasley was tending to her garden. And even further back in the yard, two boys were having quite some fun, throwing gnomes across the yard fence and into unplotted beyond the trees, which framed the contents of the forest. 

Ron had just finished tossing a particularly violent gnome over the fence when he felt a drop of sweat trickling down his back. He looked over at Harry, who was being bitten by his own little friend, and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. He glanced up at the sky, observing the intensity of the sun bearing down on them, and looked back at Harry. As they looked at each other, they could both see that the other needed a break, and desperately. Ron smiled, jerked his head towards the house, and waited for Harry's response. Harry nodded, and together, they walked back, under the cooling shade of the tall trees.

Ron opened the porch door and walked in first, heading straight for the kitchen for some lemonade, followed by Harry, who wasn't completely surprised when he saw Ron take out enough meat and bread to make at least a dozen sandwiches.

"Ron, you know, it amazes me that you eat so much, and yet you are the thinnest person I know. How the hell do you do it?" Harry said with a laugh, taking up some bread and meat for himself.

"Well, what can I say, I'm a Weasley, it's in my blood," Ron replied, looking at his first sandwich like a lion at his prey. He eyed the masterpiece a moment longer before stuffing a massive bite into his mouth. A pleased and satisfied look came over his face, and he grinned broadly. Just as he was about to swallow, he heard a loud bang from the living room. Intrigued, and perhaps a bit intimidated, he stopped mid-chew, looked around suspiciously, and decidedly pushed Harry out in front of him as to block any sort of danger. Harry, after rolling his eyes, walked out into the living room, only to find not a form of anything dangerous, but in fact, quite the opposite of danger. Maybe. 

"Hey Hermione," Harry said, looking at the supposed 'opposite of danger' standing in front of him, having just arrived by floo in Ron's fireplace and holding the handle of a rather large trunk behind her.

"Hey guys!" she said enthusiastically, dropping said handle and nearly leaping over to the boys to greet them. Ron noticed that the obvious presence of sweat didn't seem to stop her from embracing each of them tightly, which made Ron smile. 

"Hey Hermione, welcome back! How was Greece?" he asked, finally swallowing that bite of sandwich. He moved his right (sandwich) hand tentatively as he released her from his arms and taking a step back to get a good look at her. She had been gone most of the summer, in Greece with her parents, visiting some distant relatives of hers. And boy, a lot had happened those couple of months. For one thing, she had gotten at least a couple of inches taller, and her hair was longer, and a certain something shone in her eyes…By the look on her face, they could already anticipate her answer.

"Oh, it was wonderful! The libraries were beautiful, and everything was so well-structured, the buildings were beautiful and I just loved it, the people were really friendly and the food was amazing, and-"

Her face fell when she noticed that neither of the boys was really paying attention, so she just sighed and went back to the fireplace to grab her trunk. 

"All right you guys, just help me with this, will you?" she asked, feeling a little put out, but joking with them all the same. The two boys walked over to her, each grabbed a handle of the trunk (both being careful not to harm their sandwiches), and lifted it silently, watching each other and holding back chuckles the best they could as they ascended the steps up to Ron's room. Ron couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that they were forced to leave the rest of the sandwiches behind, but felt a surge of hope when Hermione announced that she was hungry. 

Hermione followed them, glowering at the backs of their heads. _Grr, you would think they'd give me some respect…but no, I guess not. Something around here has got to change. They'll see, they'll see…I'm not the same old girl I used to be. _With that, she rubbed her hands together mischievously and smiled, only to find herself glancing from side to side guiltily, afraid someone had seen her. She didn't know it, but someone had been watching her…a someone with bright red hair and eyes that burned through the darkness of the hallway roguishly as the trio passed. 

Ron and Harry dropped he trunk at the foot of Ron's bed and waited for Hermione to enter the room before closing the door. Harry sat down to ask Hermione more about Greece, while Ron sat down on the end of his bed to enjoy the rest of his sandwich peacefully. Harry and Hermione carried on quite an enjoyable conversation about her trip, when suddenly, Ron noticed something that disturbed him greatly: Hermione was flirting with him! _What on earth is going on here? Hermione, flirting with Harry? Why, that's the weirdest thing I've seen in my life…what does she think she's playing at, hitting on him like that? _For it was true; she was leaning in towards him, more than just slightly. Her hand had come to rest on his knee. But most importantly, she wouldn't break eye contact with him! Before Ron could stop himself, he felt his face go red and his heart beat faster, and was overcome with an unexplainable anger. Harry looked over as Ron began clenching his fists. 

"Ron, are you all right?" he asked, almost laughing at the look on Ron's face. He looked as red as a tomato, and his eyes were nearly bulging out of their sockets. It was only then that Hermione peeled her attention from Harry to Ron, but surprisingly, she didn't look the least bit nonplussed by his demeanor. 

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Nothing wrong here! No sirree Bob, everything is fine here. I just uh, had some kind of pepper in my sandwich, it was a bit spicy…think I'm gonna get myself some water, I'll be right back." He practically jumped out of his chair, flung open the door, and flew down the stairs to the kitchen. This was made evident by the loud stomping Harry and Hermione could hear coming from the staircase. They looked at each other, Harry confused, and Hermione with a pleasant grin. 

"Well, that must have been quite the pepper…" Harry said as he looked down at his feet, hiding a smile. Hermione grinned in agreement, as the first stage of her plan was already taking place. 

Please review! Please????? You know you want to…


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